What is the Tomatometer®?

The Tomatometer rating – based on the published opinions of hundreds of film and
television critics – is a trusted measurement of movie and TV programming quality
for millions of moviegoers. It represents the percentage of professional critic reviews
that are positive for a given film or television show.

From the Critics

From RT Users Like You!

Fresh

The Tomatometer is 60% or higher.

Rotten

The Tomatometer is 59% or lower.

Certified Fresh

Movies and TV shows are Certified Fresh with a steady Tomatometer of 75% or
higher after a set amount of reviews (80 for wide-release movies, 40 for
limited-release movies, 20 for TV shows), including 5 reviews from Top Critics.

AUDIENCE SCORE

Afterglow Photos

Movie Info

When the lives of two unhappily married couples intertwine, the result is chaos. This convoluted, episodic comedy-drama from Robert Altman-protege and long-time associate Alan Rudolph follows their mutual journey. The union between Lucky "Fix-It" Mann (Nick Nolte) and his beautiful wife Phyllis (Julie Christie) has never been the same since the night their daughter overheard a particularly bitter argument between them and fled the house forever. A former low-budget movie actress, Phyllis is depressed and spends much of her time gazing wistfully at her old films and mooning over her happy past. She and Lucky haven't touched each other in ages. The same holds true for fast-track corporate executive Jeffrey Byron (Jonny Lee Miller and his wife Marianne (Lara Flynn Boyle). Marianne desperately wants children and needs affection, but the job-obsessed Jeffrey refuses to satisfy her. The two live in a fabulously appointed duplex. One day they hire a handyman to make routine repairs and in walks handsome Lucky. Marianne is instantly attracted to him and they begin a passionate affair. Meanwhile, Jeffrey meets the worldly Phyllis and they too begin an adulterous tango. The illicit love stories crisscross for a time but reach their denouement when all four accidentally meet in a posh Montreal hotel bar.

Afterglow plants a cynical seed in its provocative examination of isolation, arbitrary emotional fulfillment, and marital stagnation. Christie dutifully fills the shoes of a wounded woman so convincingly

Audience Reviews for Afterglow

Afterglow
This movie is another from a long list of movies that played at the 1997 Tronto Internatinal Film Festival. Not one of the best from that list, but still worth watching. This movie was filmed in Montreal Canada and Nick Nolte is a handyman who is fixing more then minor repairs in his travels. His wife ( Julie Christie) is a burned out actress who had a child by another actor while married to Nick, of course one day during an arrugment she brings up the fact that the child who is now 15 is not his, major mistake child hears runs away and so is the story line of our film. Nick is not giving it up to his unfaithful wife in 3-4 years but is screwing all his clients.Of course one client falls in love with him. All in all its not that trashy and has its moments but I can only give it 3 stars

Bruce Bruce

Super Reviewer

Julie Christie is radiant as the wronged wife easily outshining the rest of cast. It's a pity she doesn't work more but it makes each time she does something special.

jay nixon

Super Reviewer

½

I was expecting this to be a little more interesting to be honest. This partner sharing story is unique in that it is set in Montreal which is not taking the place of a U.S. City but I was expecting fabulous...not just a welcome diversion for a few hours. Go in expecting little and be nicely surprised, not the other way around.

John Ballantine

Super Reviewer

½

[font=Century Gothic]In "Afterglow", Jeffrey Byron(Jonny Lee Miller) is a young executive who enjoys taking breaks walking on the ledge of his building. His wife, Marianne(Lara Flynn Boyle), is ovulating and desperately wants to get pregnant but Jeffrey is not obliging. Luckily, she still needs some work done on her home which requires a handyman, Lucky(Nick Nolte), who was recommended to her. Aside from repairing homes, Lucky also seems to be having sex with most of the housewives in the greater Montreal area, with the exception of his own wife, Phyllis(Julie Christie), a former B-movie actress.(Apparently, they have an open marriage under which Lucky can have sex with other women, just as long as he sleeps in his own bed.)[/font]
[font=Century Gothic][/font]
[font=Century Gothic]"Afterglow" is a very uneven movie about consequences and how women are taken for granted in our society. But there is little real drama to speak of and the extraneous subplots do not help. Luckily, writer-director Alan Rudolph's horrible comedic instincts do not come into play. Nick Nolte has rakish charm to spare and Julie Christie does an excellent job in deftly avoiding playing a caricature. Lara Flynn Boyle starts out at awful but gets better as the movie goes on. Jonny Lee Miller simply comes off as flat.[/font]